Airmic’s 2026 captive survey, publicised on 2 April 2026, describes expanding use of captives beyond traditional property and casualty business. Its report says more than half of respondents are writing Employee Benefits through their captives. The survey also examines governance, reinsurance and interest in a prospective UK captive framework. These findings describe the participating Airmic membership. They are not a measure of the proportion of all captives worldwide that

Dayforce’s publication of 30 March 2026 reports that the US retirement saving rate fell to 8.9% in 2025, its first decline in three years. More than one in four workers reduced their individual contributions, while use of loans from retirement accounts increased. The findings draw attention to the relationship between immediate financial needs and longer-term saving. They do not establish that an individual employer’s workforce has the same experience,

Vermont’s Act 77, signed on 24 March 2026, amends the state’s captive-insurance legislation with an effective date of 1 July 2026. The changes address financial reporting, risk retention groups and the signing of reports for protected cells. Employers with Vermont structures should examine the provisions applicable to their particular legal entity. Match the requirement to the structure The legislation specifies reporting requirements for risk retention groups, including annual and

Aviva announced on 18 March 2026 that it was extending its AI underwriting summarisation tool to individual critical illness insurance applications. The tool supports the handling of medical reports by turning information into a form that underwriters can review. The announcement concerns individual protection, rather than a confirmed deployment across group employee-benefit contracts. The distinction matters to employers and advisers assessing changes in insurance administration. A tool used in

Australia’s Migration Amendment (Training Visas—Sponsorship Requirements) Regulations 2026 were published on 10 March and take effect on 11 March 2026. For Training visa subclass 407 applications, the changes require the relevant sponsorship and nomination approvals to be in place before a valid visa application can be lodged, subject to the provisions and exceptions in the instrument. The practical change is the order of the process. Employers should not assume

The UK’s Statement of Changes HC 1691, laid on 5 March 2026, introduces targeted entry-clearance restrictions from 26 March 2026. The Student provisions concern nationals or citizens of Afghanistan, Cameroon, Myanmar and Sudan. The Skilled Worker provision concerns nationals or citizens of Afghanistan. Applications made before commencement are subject to the stated transitional treatment. The scope matters. The text should not be described as a prohibition on every visa

The UK’s Statement of Changes HC 1691, published on 5 March 2026, raises English requirements to CEFR B2 for settlement in specified routes from 26 March 2027, subject to exemptions. The changes include route-specific provisions for speaking and listening. They should not be presented as a universal B2 requirement for every immigration application made in March 2026. Settlement is a separate stage from initial permission to work. Employers and

Singapore’s Ministry of Manpower announced on 3 March 2026 that a new ONE Pass track for AI and technology talent would begin in January 2027 and replace Tech.Pass. The accompanying factsheet sets out company and individual criteria and allows qualifying remuneration to combine cash and specified non-cash components. Further details, including renewal criteria, are to follow. The announcement describes a future route. It does not establish that an applicant

On 3 March 2026, Singapore’s Ministry of Manpower announced that eight additional occupations in food services, social services and air transportation would join the Non-Traditional Source Occupation List from September 2026. The factsheet retains an 8% NTS sub-Dependency Ratio Ceiling and a fixed monthly salary of at least SGD2,000 for workers employed under the list. The announcement concerns a specified Work Permit mechanism. It should not be interpreted as

Fragomen’s alert dated 27 February 2026 reports a new compliance requirement from 9 March for applications in Japan’s Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services category involving dispatch arrangements, including relevant employer-of-record arrangements. Pledges are required from both the dispatching company and the client company. The reported commitments concern accurate application documents, activities consistent with the immigration status and cooperation with immigration checks. The announcement should retain its category and arrangement boundaries.

In an interview published on 26 February 2026, Vitalant describes the evolution of its Cayman captive and the possibility of changing retentions, limits and financing arrangements. The portfolio has expanded to include medical stop-loss and employment-related exposures, providing a concrete connection between captive strategy and employee benefits. The interview makes an important distinction about reinsurance: it is being considered, but is not yet in place in the account reviewed.

The Immigration Services Agency’s notice dated 24 February 2026 addresses the duration of the permit held when seeking permanent residence. It ends the treatment of a three-year period of stay as the maximum authorised period from 1 April 2027, with transitional provisions for qualifying holders of three-year permits. This concerns the duration authorised on the current permit. It should not be confused with a universal requirement to have lived

Article 128 of France’s 2026 Finance Act, published in the official journal on 20 February 2026, changes residence-related charges from 1 May. In the ordinary first-issuance case, the residence tax is EUR 300 and the separate stamp duty EUR 50, producing EUR 350 where both apply. The ordinary renewal tax remains EUR 200, while the higher stamp duty makes the combined amount EUR 250 where both apply. Reduced rates

Immigration New Zealand’s announcement published on 18 February 2026 sets the immigration median wage at NZD 35 per hour from 9 March. It explains that the general AEWV median-wage requirement was removed in March 2025, while several immigration settings remain indexed to the measure. Those settings include certain Green List requirements, advertising and skills exemptions, some maximum-stay rules and income thresholds for supporting family members. The announcement also recognises

Everywhen’s research release dated 18 February 2026 reports that 59% of respondents were concerned about employee mental health. Its research note identifies an Opinium survey of 500 UK HR decision makers conducted in January. The result describes employers’ stated concerns; it does not measure diagnosed illness, treatment outcomes or the effectiveness of a particular benefit. The findings offer a useful prompt for benefits teams to review the relationship between

In Packaging Corporation of America Thrift Plan for Hourly Employees v. Langdon, decided on 2 February 2026, the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit considered an attempted beneficiary change after divorce. The participant’s fax expressed his wish to remove his former spouse, but he had not followed the plan’s specified telephone or online process. The court found that the participant had not satisfied the substantial compliance test

KFF’s release dated 29 January 2026 reports that 32% of US adults were very worried about affording healthcare, above the other household expense categories tested. It also reports that 56% expected healthcare costs for their families to become less affordable. The January tracking poll covered 1,426 adults surveyed from 13 to 20 January, with a full-sample margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points. Its population was

In an analysis published on 15 January 2026, Greg Lang examines gap collateral and the accumulation of security across successive policy years. Older unresolved claims can keep collateral committed while a new policy year adds further requirements. His discussion considers reinsurance, alternative security and claims administration as possible responses. This is a practitioner analysis, mainly concerning general insurance risks. It is not a new regulatory requirement or an independently

Generali Employee Benefits (GEB) marks 60 years in global employee benefits, highlighting its 127-country network and a forward agenda focused on digital transformation, analytics, inclusivity and sustainability.

On 2 December 2025, the IRS issued initial guidance on Trump Accounts, a new form of individual retirement account for eligible children. Employer contributions under a qualifying programme can receive favourable tax treatment, with a USD2,500 annual exclusion per employee. That employee-level ceiling applies in aggregate, including where contributions go to several dependants’ accounts. Keep the limits separate The employer contribution counts towards the ordinary USD5,000 annual contribution limit

Phillip Giles’s analysis published on 25 November 2025 examines the evolution of medical stop-loss group captives towards more coordinated cost-control arrangements. It argues for selective participation, aligned partners and programme-manager accountability, and discusses the implications when members implement different levels of cost control. This is an update to the earlier GBV discussion of risk retention and exit terms. The emphasis here is the operational programme and its participation criteria.

MAXIS Global Benefits Network (MAXIS GBN) in October 2025 appointed Damian Allepuz as Regional Director – EMEA within its global Business Development (BD) team. Damian has been promoted from his role as Regional Manager for Western Europe, taking over from Aaron Brown who is leaving MAXIS to take on an exciting new opportunity in the E.B. intermediary market. Damian is responsible for all outbound business development across EMEA (Europe,

A report dated 9 October 2025 describes an employee-benefit captive offering developed by Advisory Services Network and Nordisk Aktuarservice. The proposed approach models HR-related risks, including stress, absenteeism and sick leave, to help organisations assess their total cost of risk before considering mitigation and financing choices. The report includes participant statements and discussion of Bayer evaluating the approach. It does not provide an independently assessed dataset demonstrating employer savings

In August 2025, Germany’s DGUV described occupational health precautions required for work in tropical or subtropical conditions and other overseas locations involving particular climatic or infection hazards under ArbMedVV. The note corroborates the scope of an issue relayed in a December 2023 newsletter. It describes a risk-based requirement, rather than a universal examination for every foreign business trip or a new law introduced in December 2023. Start with the

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has advanced dramatically in recent years, with impacts that are already reshaping society, business, and individual lives. Yet many of these implications remain poorly understood and unevenly shared. Focusing on the economic dimension, the U.S. National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) published in September 2025 a working paper by Erik Brynjolfsson, Anton Korinek, and Ajay K. Agrawal: “A Research Agenda for the Economics of Transformative AI.”

Willis Towers Watson (WTW) in August 2025 published the 2025 edition its annual “2025 Global Benefits Financing Matrix and Poolable Coverages” table. An indispensable tool of the trade for global employee benefits practitioners, it is available for download as a PDF. For the first time, WTW requires prior registration. The matrix “provides a complete listing of the eight global benefits networks, and their affiliated insurers and their offshore (i.e. third-country national

In July 2025, EU authorities approved a progressive rollout of the Entry/Exit System and set 12 October 2025 as its start date. For travel and mobility teams, the two decisions belonged in one implementation record: the rollout framework explained the transition, while the later decision supplied the launch date. Read the dated development The framework provided for a progressive 180-day rollout. EES records entries and exits for specified non-EU